Plymouth’s Sounds Musical Theatre Company, based in Oreston, is one of the longest running theatre companies in Plymouth.

Established  in 1911 the Company  is celebrating their 114th year of performing for Plymouth and South West audiences, only interrupted in their productions by the two World Wars. Now their highly acclaimed  performance of 9 to 5 The Musical has culminated in Sounds Musical Theatre Company being prestigiously awarded by NODA , The National  Operatic and Dramatic Association for  the South West District Achievement Award, plus a Nomination for the Wilfred Roe trophy for Stage Decor.

9 to 5 The Musical was performed at Devonport Playhouse to sell out audiences in February 2024. NODA judges assess the whole  of the UK’s annual cohort of Amateur  Dramatic companies’ performances before they can reach their verdicts, so Sounds Musical Theatre  Company has had to wait over a year to receive their  highly distinguished Award and associated Nomination.

A vibrant new mural celebrating nature, community and sustainability has been unveiled at Sherford Vale School & Nursery, marking the culmination of an inspiring legacy art project.

It has been created by professional artist, Ellie Johnson – better known as Mrs Murals – and inspired by pupils’ original designs.

The mural was commissioned by the Sherford Consortium – a partnership between award-winning national housebuilders, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry Group, which includes Linden Homes, Bovis Homes and Countryside Partnerships – as a gift to mark the completion of the school building and create a lasting memento for the school community.

The popular Plympton St Maurice Midsummer Festival is here again with the three day event running from Friday June 20 through to Sunday June 22, writes Charmian Evans.

On Friday the Sir Joshua Reynolds choir open the weekend with their concert ‘Summer is a Comin In’ at 7.30pm in the ancient village Guildhall. Tickets are £7.50 on the door.

A referendum will be held on Thursday July 17 to determine how Plymouth will be governed in the future. 

At the referendum, those on the electoral register will be asked to have their say whether Plymouth City Council’s governance model should be changed from a Leader model to a Directly Elected Mayor.   

This process is separate – and not related to – the ongoing discussions about Plymouth potentially joining a combined regional authority that could be led by an elected Strategic Mayor.

Plympton Community Council held it’s annual May Fair on May 3 at Harewood House and the surrounding area.

The weather brought many people out to enjoy a fun packed day.

The Fair was opened by the Plympton Stannator, Cathy Loft accompanied by the Youth Ambassador Grace Nicholls.

Students and staff at Hele’s School staged an impressive evening at the school on May 1 as the culmination of their Voice of Unity Project. In preparation for the event young people explored powerful themes of identity, belonging and community.

The event got underway with the Hele’s Rhythm and Soul Choir performing an indigenous Australian welcome song in front of a packed theatre of invited guests who included members of the Plymouth and Devon Racial Equality Council, the Stannator of Plympton and the Youth Ambassador, plus many others.

The evening went on to have a mix of overseas songs as well as poems and some thought provoking but well-known pop songs from the past.

A Plympton animal sanctuary has stepped in to help a family whose three ‘female’ rabbits multiplied to more than 20 bunnies within weeks.

Woodside Animal Welfare Trust is currently caring for 10 bunnies brought in by the family from Princetown, with another litter remaining with the family until they are old enough to leave their mother.

The charity is urging owners to to get their rabbits spayed or neutered and is offering a discounted scheme at its Wolseley Road clinic in Plymouth for families on low-income and benefits.

A pair of Northern Lynx are enjoying a holiday break in Devon while their own habitat in Kent undergoes refurbishment.

Brother and sister Lynx Flossie and Torridon pairing from Wildwood Kent arrived in April to take temporary residence at Dartmoor Zoo.

Dartmoor Zoo are well versed in lynx husbandry, with a family of four Carpathian Lynx currently on site. Emily, Flaviu and their two children Carpi and Bogdan can now be found in what was once the Cheetah enclosure. The team are excited to work with another lynx subspecies and have been working with the Wildwood keeper team closely throughout this partnership.

Mark Hackett, chief executive of University Hospitals Plymouth

NHS Trust, has warned that Derriford faces tough financial challenges in the year ahead with nearly £70 million of cuts to be made.

He said that the savings of £67 million represent around six per cent of the UHP’s £1 billion annual expenditure with the majority being reductions in pay.

A Plymstock children’s home has received a ‘Good’ rating from Ofsted.

Downham House in Church Road is a registered children’s home which provides short breaks for children with severe learning disabilities and complex needs.

Owned and run by Plymouth City Council, the breaks provided by Downham House are vital and much valued by children and their families.

Plympton Litter Picker Cathy Loft and Hele’s student Grace Nicholls have been formally invested into their roles as Stannator of Plympton and Plympton Youth Ambassador respectively, taking over from Dave Partridge and Christopher Turner who have both completed their year in office.

They were installed into their new roles in a ceremony at Harewood House on Saturday April 26 attended by the Lord Mayor of Plymouth Councillor Tina Tuohy and her Lady Mayoress Freya Hitt. The event was attended by around 80 invited guests, family members, representatives from a multitude of Plympton’s voluntary and community organisations, Plympton councillors and the Member of Parliament for South West Devon.

Plymouth’s Royal William Yard is marking its 200th anniversary in 2025 – and is calling on the public to help shape the celebrations.

A new campaign, 200 Stories, has launched to gather memories, photographs, documents, artwork and artifacts that reflect the Yard’s rich and varied history.

The aim is to collect 200 contributions from the community, which will form the basis of two major bicentennial initiatives: a summer History Trail and an autumn 200 Exhibition.

The campaign invites individuals, families, and organisations with a connection to or interest in the site – whether through its Naval past, regeneration journey, or more recent life as a cultural and community destination – to get involved.

Update from Cllr John Stephens for Plymstock Dunstone

I have been keen to promote opportunities for people to join a walking group if walking has not been their thing. So, I recently met up with the Plymouth Walking Network Group to learn more about the organised groups they partner with to lead walks around the city for all ages  and abilities of people. The chat was good, the scenery, bird song and gentle exercise was fantastic.

Update from Cllr Stefan Krizanac for Plymstock Dunstone

I am using this opportunity to advise those who need to, to simply put a notice on your doors or garden gates letting postal workers know you have a dog at your property. A number of postal staff live in Plymstock Dunstone, and they will be pleased to hear and read about this issue being addressed in our local paper.

Update from Cllr Maria Lawson for Plymstock Dunstone

I am in the throes of helping to set up a Plymstock Community Speed Watch Team and so far, there are seven volunteers including myself. We are all aware of the hotspots for speeding in Plymstock and it would be good to have a Plymstock wide team covering both Dunstone and Radford Wards.

Community Speed Watch is a national initiative where proactive members of the community are trained by the police to record details of speeding vehicles using handheld speed detection equipment. Volunteers are highly visible to passing drivers to encourage motorists to be more speed aware when driving through our residential areas.

Update from Cllr Daniel Steel for Plymstock Radford

Like Councillor Lawson, I’m also getting increased reports of speeding. That’s why I welcome her efforts to setup a Plymstock Community Speed Watch Team.

I want to echo her call for residents to volunteer to sign up to Speed Watch to help tackle this continuing issue in Plymstock.

Plymstock Radford has some additional issues related to vehicular Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) which I’ve written about previously of drivers not just speeding and racing but also being noisy very late into the night. This is a particular issue in Jennycliff and Mount Batten car park areas. I’ve had countless residents contact me expressing their frustration with these inconsiderate drivers.

Plymouth’s busy Manadon Interchange is set for a major overhaul thanks to new government funding.

The Department for Transport has given a green light to an outline plan for a variety of improvements and awarded just over £13.3 million in development funding to take this scheme onto detailed design.

The Manadon Interchange, which connects the A38 Devon Expressway with the A386 Tavistock Road, is one of Plymouth’s busiest and most critical junctions.

It plays a vital role in linking different parts of the city and providing access to key employment and healthcare sites, including Derriford Hospital, Plymouth Science Park, and the Dockyard.

Originally designed for far lower traffic volumes, the interchange now struggles to cope with demand.

With the planned growth of Plymouth, including over 29,000 new homes and the creation of more than 13,000 skilled jobs, the city’s road infrastructure must be improved to support this expansion.

The steel frames for the first purpose-built commercial units within the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport are now up and work is powering ahead on the site that is destined to be home to high growth industries.

Plymouth City Council is delivering four units on a plot in Beaumont Way, Langage – one of three Freeport tax sites as part of the region’s continuing success story in the marine, defence, space, advanced manufacturing, engineering and clean energy sectors.

As we head into May and mark the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, it is a time to reflect on the extraordinary courage and sacrifice of those who served during the Second World War.

Across South West Devon, I know many will be attending events and taking moments of remembrance to honour those who gave so much to secure peace in Europe. These commemorations are not only acts of remembrance, but also reminders of the enduring importance of community resilience and national unity.

Of course, not all of April has been without challenge. Following the burst water pipe that affected many of my constituents and Beryl’s decision to cut back on services in Plympton and Plymstock, I have been urging relevant parties to take action to give residents the long-term support and help they need.

A building society worker is taking on a personal challenge later this year – running a 10-mile race to raise funds for St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth, in memory of her father, Stephen Shears, who passed away in March from a rare form of cancer.

Stephen retired to Plymouth in 2015, where he spent the last decade surrounded by the beauty and tranquillity of the coast, until his illness brought him to the care of St Luke’s Hospice.

So, it’s finally happened. After a valiant effort in the last few months to starve off survival, Plymouth Argyle have been relegated to League One. 

At the moment, we’re still in the processing phase. It’s raw and it’s difficult to see the club appear so fallible after years of seemingly unstoppable progress.

The last time I wrote for Chronicle readers with reports of Argyle’s progress, it was the start of March. I spoke about how ‘Muslicball’ hung in the balance. It was capable of brilliant defensive masterclass performances but also staleness and did not show adaptability.

I thought long and hard about how to write this article. Do we look at the story as it’s developed or do we look at what Argyle need to do? Ultimately, the two topics are opposite sides of the same coin.

Despite the gutwrenching relegation, Miron Muslic has arguably proved himself to be Argyle’s greatest asset. We might not have stayed up but we gave it a great shot. The final chapter of our Championship story is the best possible blueprint going forward.